12 | FEBRUARY 4 • 2021 

continued from page 11

ON THE COVER
OUR COMMUNITY

until she was 2 or 3 otherwise.”
In addition, Jared said their 
home in Berkeley, Calif., 
where they plan to return in 
April, was under renovation 
and they needed to live some-
where else anyway. So, with a 
work-from-home requirement 
from both of their employers, 
instead of staying in the area, 
they packed up their car and 
set out for Michigan. “We 
drove here, quarantined in a 
rental in Oak Park for 14 days, 
got COVID tested and moved 
in just before Rosh Hashanah,” 
Jared said. “
Ariella was only 
8 weeks old at the time, so it 
was a big adventure for a tiny 
baby.”
Now that they are here, she 
is the center of attention. “It’s 
really fascinating watching my 

parents interact with Ariella 
and build a relationship with 
her,” Jared said. “She really 
loves them, which is good 
because she’s only ever met 
four people that aren’t doc-
tors.”
Lisa said, “It is thrilling to 
watch Ariella grow. She has 
been here for four months and 
has gone from a 2-month-
old who didn’t do much to a 
6-month-old who rolls over, 
babbles, responds to us and is 
getting ready to crawl. 
“It has been wonderful 
watching Valerie and Jared 
turn into Mommy and Daddy. 
We are so proud of the way 
they take care of their child 
and each other,” she said. 
“This has also given us time 
to really get to know and love 

Valerie and strengthened our 
relationship with our son as an 
adult, not a child.”
Jared also was able to see 
how Frank and Lisa interact 
with one another. “It’s interest-
ing seeing how my parents live 
after not sharing a roof with 
them for 20 years.”

HOME-WORK
Both Jared, who is 37, and 
Valerie, 32, have been able to 
continue their work from Frank 
and Lisa’s home. “I taught two 
law school classes from my 
parents’ basement,
” said Jared, 
a professor at the University of 
California Hastings College of 
the Law in San Francisco. When 
they arrived here, Valerie, a 
sociologist who manages a 
research team for Google, was 
on maternity leave. “She is now 
back at work running research 
projects, and I am taking the 

baby during Valerie’s workday,
” 
Jared said. 
The only company the 
COVID-cautious family had 
was for several weeks when 
Jared’s brother Matthew quar-
antined for 14 days in Miami 
and drove to his parents’ home. 
Before Jared’s family arrived, 
Frank and Lisa were also able 
to spend time with their son 
Aaron, his wife, Meira, and their 
kids, Benji, 5, and Eliana, 2, who 
quarantined and drove through 
the night from Washington, 
D.C., for a six-week stay. 
Jared described the current 
living arrangement honestly. “
At 
times, it’s hard,
” he said. “My 
parents’ house is incredibly spa-
cious, and Valerie, my Dad and 
I each have separate worksta-
tions in different rooms. Ariella 
has her own bedroom, and we 
have our own bedroom and 
bathroom.
”

“IT MADE MORE SENSE TO MOVE 
HERE ... AND INTRODUCE ARIELLA 

TO HER GRANDPARENTS”

— JARED ELLIAS

Melissa Hall spends one-on-one 

time relaxing with her mom, 

Janet Reinhart Hall.

Ariella Ellias intently 

watches her grandpa, 

Frank Ellias, as he 

participates in the B’nai 

Israel Synagogue Zoom 

Havdalah service.

